House, Senate Expected to Vote On Budget Resolution

The House is scheduled to vote today on the continuing resolution agreed to last week that will fund the federal government through Sept. 30.

The $1 trillion spending plan, $40 billion less than the budget for the previous fiscal year, was agreed to by President Obama and House and Senate leaders last week.

Lawmakers approved a stopgap measure which runs out Friday.

If the House agrees, the bill will then go to the Senate, which could take it up later today.

But these votes are the first of three big spending battles in the months ahead.

Lawmakers will also be asked to vote to raise the debt ceiling, probably next month. In addition, Congress and the Obama administration are working on the budget for the fiscal year that begins in October.

The House is scheduled to vote Friday on a budget proposal put forth by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which calls for extensive changes in entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid. While that will likely pass the GOP-controlled House it faces a more hostile environment in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

In his speech Wednesday, Obama proposed cutting the deficit by both cutting spending and raising taxes on high-income earners and eliminating some tax expenditures.

He didn’t specifically mention the credit union tax exemption but lobbyists for CUNA and NAFCU said they will remain vigilant and fight efforts to remove it.